Love Bad Gastein? Where to go next for the spa, the steep reds or surer snow
The Ski Snug teamUpdated 12 October 20268 min read
Bad Gastein is a resort people choose for the place as much as the skiing. Our own description is faded belle époque grandeur and thermal spas, grand and characterful, and the three things on our list of what it does best are the belle époque, the spa and the scenery. We class it as traditional, and you fly to Salzburg.
The skiing is the part that surprises. The village is low, at 1,000 metres, but the skiing climbs a long way above it, and the mountain is steeper than you might expect of a spa town. So when a regular looks elsewhere, it is usually for one of three things: the spa town, the steep reds, or a little more certainty about the snow. Each one points somewhere different.
Bad Gastein, measured
It is a red mountain, and a steep one. More than half of what we measure is red, and 37 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, the third highest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. The reds average 25.0 percent, the fourth steepest of the 13, against 23.4 for a typical Austrian red. The blues are the soft spot, at 14.9 percent against an Austrian 16.4, and there are only 8.2 kilometres of black. These are average gradients per run segment, and a run's grade is set by its steepest pitch, but the shape is clear: a place for a confident intermediate who likes a red with some bite.
The height is on the hill, not in the village. The skiing reaches 2,644 metres, measured, and 27 percent of the piste is above 2,000. Half of it is at or above 1,800 metres. Our snow sure test asks for more than half, so Bad Gastein misses by the narrowest of margins. Nobody can promise snow, but it is close.
The pass is bigger than the mountain. Bad Gastein's own area is 83 kilometres, one of four separate areas down the valley, on a pass of five regions that are not all joined. It is a week of choosing a mountain each morning, not one long circuit.
So "somewhere like Bad Gastein" means a place with a spa and a past, steep reds, and skiing that climbs well above a low village. No route keeps all of it.
Bormio: if it is the spa town, with the snow higher
- VillageVillage
- 1,225 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,012 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 50 km
Bormio: 53 km of piste we measure. 12 km blue and easier 23%36 km red 68%4.7 km black 9%
If the spa is the reason you book, start in Italy. Our one line on Bormio is a historic spa town with a famous top to bottom run. It is relaxed by our read, with a thermal spa on its list of what it does best. We class it as traditional, as we do Bad Gastein, and quiet. Our matching puts it closer to Bad Gastein than any other Italian resort we cover.
The gain is the snow. The village sits at 1,225 metres, 225 above yours, and the skiing reaches 3,001 metres, measured, 357 higher. Seventy six percent of the piste we measure is at or above 1,800 metres, against your 50, so Bormio is snow sure on our measure where Bad Gastein only just misses.
Much of the steep character comes with you. Thirty two percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37. The reds are kinder, averaging 21.7 percent against 25.0, but the blacks average 35.7, the sixth steepest of the 55 resorts we cover. Italian and Austrian grades are not set the same way, so trust those gradients over the colours.
The trade is size and the easy end. Bormio's own mountain is 50 kilometres, against your 83, and its pass covers four separate valleys, with everything beyond its own mountain reached by transport, a shape you already know from Ski amadé. We measure 52.5 kilometres around the village, half of Bad Gastein's 106.6. And there are just 12.1 kilometres of blue and easier, the least of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 41. Most of the rest is red, so it suits skiers already happy on reds and leaves little for anyone still on blue.
La Clusaz: if it is the steep reds
- VillageVillage
- 1,100 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 2,600 m
La Clusaz: 97 km of piste we measure. 56 km green and blue 58%32 km red 33%9 km black 9%
If what you love is the skiing itself, the closest match to Bad Gastein we measure, anywhere, is in France. Our matching says La Clusaz keeps the share of steep piste, the size and the traditional feel, and the gradients go further. Thirty nine percent of its piste is steeper than one in four, joint sixth of the 55 resorts we cover, against your 37. Its reds average 29.0 percent, the steepest of the 55, against your 25.0, and its blacks average 37.3, the second steepest. French grades run differently from Austrian ones, so the gradient is the fair comparison. If your Bad Gastein reds feel steep, these will feel steeper.
It is kinder at the easy end than that suggests. Thirty eight percent of the piste is gentler than 15 percent, against your 29, and there are 56 kilometres of green and blue against your 41 of blue and easier. We measure 96.6 kilometres around the village, 10 fewer than around Bad Gastein, with 8.9 of black against your 8.2.
The trade is height, and the mood. The village is at 1,100 metres, 100 above yours, but the skiing stops at 2,458 metres, measured, 186 below your top, and only 18 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres. It is lively and local by our read, with a weekend feel close to Geneva. It is not a spa town.
Hintertux: if it is the same size of mountain, snow sure
- VillageVillage
- 1,500 m
- Highest liftTop lift
- 3,250 m
- Linked areaLinked
- 206 km
Hintertux: 110 km of piste we measure. 42 km blue and easier 38%66 km red 59%2.9 km black 3%
If you would keep the mountain and change the snow, stay in Austria. On our measure Hintertux is almost exactly Bad Gastein's size: 110.2 kilometres of piste around the village against 106.6, and 41.8 of blue and easier against 41.3. The difference is height. The village is at 1,500 metres, 500 above yours. The skiing reaches 3,239 metres, measured, 595 higher and the second highest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. And 96 percent of the piste is at or above 1,800 metres, the highest share of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover. Snow sure on our measure, with a glacier that skis all year.
The steepness moves around. Your steep reds get kinder, averaging 22.1 percent against 25.0, and 32 percent of the piste is steeper than one in four, against your 37. The blues go the other way: they average 19.3 percent, the steepest of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover and the second steepest of the 55, against your gentle 14.9. An improver who is happy on your blues should expect these to bite. And there are 2.9 kilometres of black, the least of the 13 Austrian resorts we cover, against your 8.2.
The trade is the place. Hintertux is snowy and no frills by our read, and we class it as modern rather than traditional. The glacier itself is 62 kilometres; the bigger Zillertal figures you will see quoted need a bus.
So, which one
the spa and the old town are the point of the week, you want snow sure skiing that goes higher, and nobody in the group needs much blue.
it is the steep reds you go for and you can give up the height and the spa.
Le Grand-Bornand if you want the same village height and a quieter week.
you want Bad Gastein's size of mountain with the snow sure on our measure, and you will trade the grandeur for a glacier.
St. Moritz if you want the snow and the glamour, and can live with gentler piste.
Bad Gastein is chosen for the place first, and Bormio is the pick that keeps the place: a traditional spa town, with separate valleys on one pass and a steep edge to the skiing. On top of that it adds 357 metres at the top and passes our snow sure test. You give up half the piste and most of the blue, and for skiers happy on reds that is a fair exchange.